Learning through Teaching: Peer Teaching and Mentoring Experiences among Third-Year Medical Students

Abstract

Phenomenon

Classroom studies of peer-led teaching and mentoring report benefits for students both as teachers and learners. Such benefits include both improved content mastery and personal and professional development. While benefits of peer-led teaching in the clinical setting have been well characterized among other health professions, less is known within undergraduate medical education. In this study, we explored medical students’ perceptions and experiences relevant to peer teaching and mentoring in outpatient clinical clerkships.

Approach

Third-year medical students enrolled in two different longitudinal primary care clerkships, Education Centered Medical Home (ECMH) or Individual Preceptorship (IP), participated in semi-structured interviews in 2018. Students were asked to describe their peer teaching experiences during the clerkship and to reflect on their experiences serving as role models or mentors. We analyzed transcripts utilizing a two-cycle team-based inductive approach.

Findings

Thirty-three students completed interviews. We derived three main themes: (1) diversity of peer teaching and mentoring opportunities, (2) transitioning one’s role from learner to teacher, and (3) personal and professional development. While participants from both clerkships participated in peer teaching and mentoring experiences, ECMH students described more opportunities to interact with students across all years of medical school training, noting that “getting that guidance and in turn being able to teach is a valuable experience.” ECMH students further perceived the responsibility of creating a comfortable learning environment for others. Students from both clerkships reflected on ‘learning through teaching,’ that teaching served as a reaffirmation of the knowledge they gained, and that teaching experience contributed to their personal and professional growth.

Insights

Students perceived their participation in peer teaching and mentoring experiences in the clinical setting as contributing positively to personal and professional development. Students from both clerkships reflected on their teaching and mentoring opportunities as a facilitator of growth in their own teaching skills; ECMH students further described a heightened sense of self-confidence and fulfillment. These findings highlight the importance of creating learning environments that foster peer teaching and mentoring, as such opportunities may lead to further growth as a learner and as a physician.

Keywords:

• undergraduate medical education
• peer teaching
• peer mentoring
• longitudinal clerkships
• qualitative analysis

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Elizabeth R. Ryan, EdD for assisting with the development of the interview guide, conducting qualitative interviews, and for her support of the overall longitudinal qualitative project. The authors also wish to thank David T. Liss, PhD, Molly McCahill, Sara Shaunfield, PhD, Wivine Ngongo, and Diane B. Wayne, MD for their ongoing support of and contribution toward research around the Education Centered Medical Home. Finally, the authors thank Stephen D. Persell, MD, MPH, and Deborah Smith Clements, MD for their leadership in obtaining funding support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval has been granted for this study by the Northwestern University Institutional Review Board (STU00200764); initial approval granted 3/26/15.

Additional information

Funding

Grant support specific for educational research and dissemination was provided to support authors BLH, KAC, LAG and DBE by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UH1HP29963, Academic Units for Primary Care Training and Enhancement. The information, content and conclusions expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.

Funding

Grant support specific for educational research and dissemination was provided to support authors BLH, KAC, LAG and DBE by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UH1HP29963, Academic Units for Primary Care Training and Enhancement. The information, content and conclusions expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.